| Author | Message | ||
     Steve Hinton (Steve_h) New Member Username: Steve_h Post Number: 4 Registered: 02-2003 |
Do I have to discharge the AC system to get the heater core out?? | ||
| Kevin Howell (Kevinhowell) New Member Username: Kevinhowell Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2003 |
no. in fact, i got mine out by just removing the center console, glove compartment, and underpanels. you're not going to like getting it back in if you do it that way, though. putting those clamps back on while the core is in its proper place is a bitch! that's why you're supposed to remove the blower motor, dash, airbag, rear brakes, and exhaust manifold like haynes tells you to.  | ||
| John Moore (Jmoore) Senior Member Username: Jmoore Post Number: 400 Registered: 10-2002 |
Don't forget to disconnect the battery first! LOL! Heater cores are a b&^%h! | ||
| Steve Hinton (Steve_h) New Member Username: Steve_h Post Number: 5 Registered: 02-2003 |
Kevin I have gotten to it the way you did, but I can't get enough play in the hard lines to get them out. How did you do it? | ||
| Kevin Howell (Kevinhowell) New Member Username: Kevinhowell Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2003 |
maybe mine had been done before and had more play to begin with. i just undid the clamps and removed the bracket that holds the lines. got just enough play, barely, to slide the core out. you have to really pull back on that dash when you slide it out, though. another set of hands come in very, well, handy. if you still have no play, you'll have to remove the blower behind the glove compartment and undo the bracket there. that one sucks. the screw heads are actually facing the firewall! anyway, if you have to do that, it may be easier to drill them out or dremel a slot into the backside and screw it out backwards. don't put the screws back upon reassembly; it's overkill. i actually got to do mine twice. my parts company sent me a bad replacement core which leaked one week after installation. there are not enough expletives in the english language to express how i felt at that point. | ||
| Steve Hinton (Steve_h) New Member Username: Steve_h Post Number: 7 Registered: 02-2003 |
Well, I got the new core in but after getting the top hose to seal, I COULD NOT get the bottom to seal! I finnaly cut the hard lines, took the core BACK out, soldered the ends of the hard pipes to the core with about 4" or so of pipe and put the core in again and spliced the pipes back together with normal heater hose. Now all I have to do is put the dash back together. That is by far the most asinine, backwards, F**KED up design I have worked on yet. I was able to get the old core out by unbolting the dash and pulling it waay back and sliding it out (I didn't have to discharge the AC like the book says). I think the dumbass of the year award should go to the guy who put the screws in the back hardline clamp with the heads AGAINST the firewall (the ones I had to drill out to get enough play in the line to get them out of the core). What kind of sadistic bastard thought of that??? All in all, if this needs to be done again, I think I'll just build a fire in the floorboard for heat. | ||
| Kevin Howell (Kevinhowell) New Member Username: Kevinhowell Post Number: 6 Registered: 02-2003 |
hahahahahaha. you should read some of my posts from when i did mine. i still say they started with a heater core and built a land rover around it. i almost cried when i had to do it twice! absolutely, the worst heater core i've ever had to do, and i'll seriously consider paying the 750 or so that i was quoted if it ever comes up again. i realize you'd lose some efficiency, but is there any reason why they can't mount these bastards on the other side of the firewall so they don't flood your interior? or at least make the crappy thing more accessible? i agree, the screws facing the firewall are the biggest joke i've ever seen. |
